In search of Andy Pandy's lineage

Awoke to the sound of pouring rain. Today is our planned zoo day and I was determined to see the pandas no matter what the sky threw at us. Ok here's the really weird thing of the day... Those who read yesterday's blog will remember my experience with the dangling earring at the gaol last night. Well, today I'm getting dressed and get my earrings out of the little zippered compartment in my bag where I'd put them after the fact one was out of my ear . So what's weird about that you are probably thinking. Here it is .... the earring today was now broken!!! the whole hook was removed from the earring OMG !!!! Brian looked slightly amazed when I showed him and tried to offer excuses but none make sense ... Except for one reason of course!!!! SPOOKY!!
After being freaked out we ignored the rain and headed for the bus stop to Rundle Mall our breakkie stop. Ate a yummy breakfast and by now the rain was just a sprinkle. Hopped on the zoo bus and before we knew it we had entered the gates and were walking excitedly to the panda enclosure.
The pandas were smaller than I'd imagined. I thought they would be about as big as Ally's mammoth sized panda stuffed toy ( not Andy Pandy ) but they were a bit smaller. We watched them for ages as they walked , played, ate lots of bamboo and watched us haha. There was a zoo volunteer (bit like a female Russell Coight and she seemed to just pop up at most of the exhibits as we viewed them haha) telling us all about the failed mating attempt ( I think she is even audible on my YouTube uploaded video lol). She told us ( several times lol) that the girl Funi was ' up to it' but the boy Wang Wang didn't seem to know what to do. I was later reading about the pandas and observing them .I noticed it said Funi was playful and adventurous and Wang Wang enjoyed spending time with his keepers .Also noticed as soon as the sprinkling rain began Funi just kept doing her thing but Wang Wang sped inside to look at the rain from a window... Could a panda be gay???
Finally left the pandas to explore the rest of the zoo. By now the weather was sunny again but a chilled wind blustered around us. By just after 2 we had seen the rest of the zoo. We headed for a last look at the pandas ,cause they take their nap away from the exhibit at 2 30pm, then staggered back to catch the bus home. We were going to go home via the Popeye boats that sail the Torrens River. However, due to the heavy rains bringing debris into the river, the boats weren't able to sail today :(( disappointing.

We had a late lunch in the city then went to the South Australian Museum . I whinged when we left that I couldn't walk another step and needed a cab rather than the free tram and a 500 metre walk to the hotel ( how unusual for me to whinge about walking lol).
Before we organized dinner we booked a day ferry return to Kangaroo Island for Monday. That will be a big day as we attempt to cover the most kms and sights possible in a day.
Found a take away fish and chips shop a little up the road from our hotel and took that back for dinner. We stopped into Woolworths to get some chips and dips and found out SA don't use plastic bags ( only found out after trolling all the registers for bags to use at self serve lol).
Tomorrow we are Barossa Valley bound.
Love Kerry-Anne and BRIAN xxx

All around Adelaide ( near Sydney lol)

Had a sleep in then went to the reception of the hotel to get directions to the free tram into the city. Was told it was a 7 - 10 min walk... so much for the advertised "short stroll from your room" haha . Turned out to be an easy flat 5 minute walk. Walked Rundle Mall got breakfast then rode a few different free buses around the city to see the sights of the city of churches. Best one was a renovated church now used as a film company called HEAVEN . The day started cool but sunny then rain poured for a few minutes before clearing and warming up.
Decided to catch the tram to Glenelg. It was a 30 minute trip. On arrival the weather had turned back to gale. With hair whipped across my face we struggled against the wind to try to make it out onto the pier. After a two steps forward one step back dance we decide the view was just as good from the pier beginning. It resembled St Kilda Beach in Melbourne. Decided the best activity would be hot chips in a cafe sheltered from the gale and that proved a great choice. Rode tram home and raced around getting ready fast to go to Adelaide gaol on a ghost tour. Starving we found a wood fire pizza store on the way and grabbed a pizza which we ate outside the gaol waiting for 7 15 , when we were to enter the gaol.
Our guide was a lady called Alison and her husband. Ok here's the weirdest thing ... Other than the fact I was wearing two cardigans to counteract the freezing conditions lol... The guide began by telling us a few things that had happened at the gaol. At the time I was being my strange self and saying to myself ,well directed at the ghosts :) "if u are here show me something". The guide began rattling on about how jewelry should be checked cause it often gets stolen on tours and found in odd places. Instinctively I touched my left ear and earring- all good. Then I touched my other ear. No earring!! I felt it dangling from my hair!!!! Insert spooky music.
The rest of the tour was fairly uneventful and they did a few slamming doors during stories but I'm not big on those theatricals. In one cellblock a door flap kept opening despite people on the tour closing it continually - the block was a little breezy so I think that was the case. Two people were staying overnight with the guide. I'm not that brave! Brian got chosen to be the whipping boy during the tour :)
Came home and we finished off the pizza we hadn't had time to eat. We had tried to get gelatos at the local shop but it had just closed :(((
Planning to do the zoo tomorrow to see the pandas .
Love Kerry-Anne and BRIAN
PS we found the Haigs chocolate shop ... YUMMO!!!!

Always take the weather with us :)

Tuesday night or really Wednesday morning around 2 30 am a huge wind storm struck Broken Hill. After howling winds for a while, a thunderstorm started with lightning flashes lighting up the room despite the heavy drapes. Then a series of rain storms followed starting and stopping with lightning in between until around 8 am. The sky in the morning again was the eerie grey/ purple as we saw the morning before.
Packed the car , headed to the local Big W for new sunnies for Brian and a new bag for me as I'd snapped a handle on the one I'd brought with me ( big enough to carry my iPad and all my other day junk). Had a Maccas breakfast then navigated our way to the Barrier Hwy. The rain had passed followed by strong winds which again had blown up the red dust.
Arrived at the South Australian border and took some photos. I managed a few with me and Brian almost in them haha and took one of Brian. He assured me he didn't need to photograph me there cause he had a photo of me on the digital camera already. Struggled back into the car against the wishes of the gale winds which didn't want me to open the car door. As we drove away I looked through the photos Brian had taken....yeah , right I was in one.. Not! Looks like I'll need to do a little photoshopping when I get home. Least in my photo my hair won't have the blown away look and I might just be wearing stilettos haha.
Had our first experience with a kamikaze road train. It was all over the road and even off the road at times, sometimes parts of the trailers were off the road before the truck swerved to drag them back onto the road. It reminded me of how a hose swirls on the ground when you turn the tap on fast. It was scary to watch but I reckoned as it was in front of us at least we knew where it was. Did I say in front of us???? Well it was for about ten minutes then I diverted my eyes for a moment ( think I was unwrapping a mintie) . Then it was beside me as Brian did a typical Clark Griswald. Couldn't even scream as we raced passed avoiding the truck through sheer luck I think!!!! When I got my voice back I told ( hmmm yelled???) Brian we could not stop between there and the 300 or so kms left til Adelaide for fear the truck would pass us and we would need to repeat the death act!
However, after my heart returned to a normal beat I found us a diversion through a place called Peterborough where 25 kms we would come to Magnetic Hill . Google said it was made of something ( iron??) so you put your car in neutral and it rolls UP the hill. Found the hill at the end of an 8 km gravel road. Followed the directions and guess where our car went??? Yep , it rolled BACKWARDS , tried a few times with repeated results :(( seems according to the sign or car mustn't be all steel ( or the hill is a hoax hahaha) .
Rain started and we hit the Barrier Highway again. I was always keeping an eye out for that truck.... Next we had coming towards us a utilty bearing the sign " large load following" and it was LARGE . We had to slow down and pull onto the dirt to let it pass, then a few more minutes the other half of the load was on another truck of the same size!
The rest of the trip was uneventful, though wet , until the petrol bell in the car rang to signal 40 kms left and our next town was 26 kms away. I so wanted to have faith in that tank!!! My faith was restored as we drove into the towns BP service station with 17 kms still showing as available.
Brian picked up more lollies which we ate as we got closer and closer to Adelaide. Along the way the hills looked just like that windows desktop picture though the clouded were grey not white. The countryside had lost the red earth look, the plants were taller and greener and remnants of stone homes of long ago littered the road line.Had there not been barbed wire fences I would have loved to have a close look in the abandoned homes.
Used the iPad as a GPS to escort us to our hotel in Adelaide. Settled in and decided to go to a pasta place a block away. Conned to walk as there were no closer parking spots, I grudgingly did it. Had a great tasty meal and we decide to take gelatos back to the hotel. As we stepped out with our desserts the heavens opened on us. But, I covered my ice cream carefully with my hand and hoped the new bag was waterproof enough for my mobile phones ( yes that's plural haha) and iPad ... And it was :)))
Going to google Adelaide now to see what to do in the next few days. Oh it's not even school holidays here til Friday
Love Kerry-Anne and BRIAN xxx
PS How lucky was I??? Apparently the pandas (the whole reason I wanted to come to Adelaide ) have been off exhibit this last week in the hope they would mate and little pandas would soon be born. Luckily today they returned on show! How disappointed would I have been if they hadn't been on exhibit :((( Apparently they don't think the pandas mated. I remember in my house pandas multiplied too easily hahaha :))

Sizzling at Silverton

Was fantastic to have a sleep in and not have to pack the car up to hit the road again. Headed out around 10 to the main street of Broken Hill in search of breakfast. Definitely not a coffee Mecca. I think there must be some secret coffee lane well hidden from tourists cause I don't want to believe that they don't " do coffee" here. Starving and in need of breakfast we checked out that Silverton had food and decide to travel there as it's only a 25 min drive from BH.
As we started driving we saw the most beautiful sky. A storm was brewing on the horizon. The clouds were a purple hue unlike anything we'd seen. I think it was the combination of very dark grey clouds hued with the red dust that hovers. Took some photos but they just couldn't capture the beauty. The wind was strong and my hair was blown away. Was glad I hadn't bothered to waste time restraightening it. We crossed the road to get a closer look at carved out red earth stream beds. Hard to imagine this dry place to have flowing creeks at any time.
Found the cafe at Silverton and had a sausage and damper breakfast. The cafe had a collection of old dolls, bottle and other things. We had a look through , there were two cane doll prams like the one I have! By now it was around 11am and the temperature was 32 C . It was an unfamiliar heat as it was dry rather than humid and bearable. My legs looked like they had been fake tanned as the red dust coated me and stuck to my well moisturised legs hahaha! Drove around looking at the old homes broken down by time but still a monument to the busy place Silverton was in it's day. Went into an art gallery and left after spending a motza on a painting that we both loved. It captured the outback as we had seen it. A new addition for the forbidden room :))
When we got back to the car we saw the red dust had ' fingerprinted' our car!! The dust showed them all ... AMAZING !!! Viewed a museum dedicated to Mad Max memorabilia . The owner was a tad obsessive lol. Saw a museum with old school and gaol relics ( hmmmm was it a little Freudian that they were combined in one location ??? Lol )
Brian like that in Silverton like White Clffs near the mining area roads were where you made them:))
Next we headed to a place called Mundi Mundi . It's claim to fame is that from the lookout you can see the curve of the earth. Silly me thought that meant you would look to the horizon and see it disappear in a curve over, bit like a wave curls over. I had already told Brian not to drive to close to the curve. I wondered why he looked at me a little odd. We arrived at the lookout and I'm glad we were the only ones there... and not for romantic reasons tho it does have that feel about it. No the reason was cause I said in a loud voice " the horizon curves just like everywhere else, what's the big deal?". Brian then pointed out the arc of the world.... The circumference of the earth sphere... Yeah I knew that ... Hahaha. Spectacular vision that you just can't capture and I think not even I could with a little help from my friend photoshop :))
Brian went to the miners memorial on the Line of the Lode when we returned to BH. But I chose instead to have coffee and a biscuit at the cafe while he went to the museum.
Had dinner in a nearby hotel recommended by our accommodation. Food was huge and tasty. As always everyone talks to everyone else. The table next to us was a group of about 8 people out on a bird watching holiday from Sydney. They asked us if we had seen interesting birds on our travels. Elbowed Brian in fear he would say "yes" remembering the photos and calendars displayed all around the White Cliffs pub ...haha.... Not quite the birds these people were referring to lol. Back in the room now. I'm blogging ( obviously hee hee) and Brian is tv watching. Tomorrow we head to Adelaide. Better start googling what to see along the drive.
Love Kerry and BRIAN xxx

24 years today!

Today is our anniversary. Started the day with breakfast in the local cafe at White Cliffs. Breakfast included a bottomless cup of ...nescafe ... coffee haha.The toasted sandwiches were huge and after consuming them we hit the road to explore the town ;) Saw a father emu minding about eight chicks. Brian ventured close to get some photos but I chose the safety of the car. Visited a few dugout opal stores and I purchased a necklace phial of opals.
Dugouts are amazing . You can see the rock walls and the temperature is cool inside . They have huge skylights made from old fashioned gallon drums. The walls are sometimes painted. We then drove to the "free to dig"site. Was tempted to dig but the thought of having to break a lot of rocks was just too daunting. Some things are better bought at the shops. We drove around for a while . It is amazing to look at the white dug out craters where people have dug for opals. They just leave the rocks on the sides of the hole rather than fill in their holes. I guess it let's others know the areas has already been explored. Consequently the area has signs warning of the danger of old mine areas caving in. After a few laps of the area we began to realize we were lost in White Cliffs...each mine hole looked the same as the next. Despite the flatness of the area the large hills created by the digging hinder the view of how to get back to the exit road. Everyone drives a four wheel drive and everyone makes their own tracks so eventually you have no idea which track is which!! Thank goodness for iPad GPS tracking lol. Finally found the exit and headed off for Broken Hill. This time the kangaroos were away from the road as were the emus. The cows however were still wandering the roads as was a snake and a lizard.
Had a brief stop in the middle of nowhere. Chatted with some others there too feeling very smug that I had both mobile and Internet access while they didn't. I did my best ' Kath' voice nodding the word TELSTRA only to learn they too had that and supposedly NextG but not my luck of connection. Obviously I chose the right phone:)))
Arrived at Broken Hill and fast food was rife. Chose Hungry Jacks complete with onion rings then found our hotel. What a find it was!!! It is gorgeous inside and out. The room is a newly fitted out spa room and for the cheap price it's just fantastic. Would recommend this place if anyone ventures to Broken Hill. Check it out online- www.lodgemotel.com.au . Oh and they gave us a free bottle of wine cause it's our anniversary hee hee - our real one even lol !!!
Ate our anniversary dinner at a restaurant called Broken Earth. It's built onto the line of lode -a huge mullock pile (leftover rock etc after mining) . The sunset was just spectacular from the restaurant. The sun went from a yellow sparkling ball against a pale blue sky with a few fine white clouds , to a burning orange circle with wispy pink clouds against a mauve and blue sky. Sipped moscato watching the vision as did Brian ( he probably was watching me as the vision more hahahaha) . Food was just delicious and surprisingly large serves , refuting the usual ratio of cost to meal size lol. Brian had a steak encrusted with pepper and a creamy sauce. I had a chicken breast filled with Danish feta and sundried tomatoes served on asparagus and " seasonal greens" lol. Dessert was also a culinary delight. Brian had a mango and caramel cheesecake and I had a raspberry and coffee parfait with a creamy custard . Waddled back to the car for the drive home to the hotel.
I'm exhausted cause it's hard work being a passenger on a long drive ha ha!!
Tomorrow we are going to explore Silverton and around Broken Hill.

Love Kerry and BRIAN xxx

Breakfast for Briiiaaan

Started the day with a breakfast at a Dubbo bakery.Amazing place full of cream cakes ,meringues, tarts, oh and i Gaol. Gaols hold a weird fascination for me.
Brian read every word on every board and so as you can imagine it was almost lunch time by the time we navigated ourselves out of Dubbo.
Headed out in the direction of Cobar. As we drove the soil started getting redder just as I imagined it would. For those of you that know me well you know how disappointed I would have been had it not looked like the googled pictures haha!
Had Subway at Cobar, because we like it and because it was the only place open :)) Watched while the owner evicted some kids for already having being banned. Those kids cut off their noses to spite their faces in a town that closes on weekends. While other kids will be trying to get over 18 yr olds to buy them alcohol and cigarettes, those kids will be conning people to buy them take away rolls haha.
Drove on along the road bound for White Cliffs, our planned stop for the night.Along the way we saw lots of native and introduced fauna. Emus were "emuing" on the side of the road and one was testing out the chicken across the road concept. Kangaroos hopped in the distance,goats ate grasses by the roadside, bunnies scampered and crows crossed our path in flight. Oh and on this leg of the journey I even became a little complacent as we zoomed past those long, long trucks...well almost complacent haha.Brian had an perverted grin on his face with each overtake. The trucks blink their indicator to tell you THEY thought it safe for us to pass. I argued they didn't know our safety concept ( maybe that's MY concept haha).
Passed through Bogan Shire which I hope was by name and not nature lol.
Around 4:30pm we saw the oasis on the horizon, the Emmdale Roadhouse. A stop here means no stop in Wilcania. The petrol bowsers are padlocked but after handing over our house deeds in exchange for them filling our tank I understood why. Chatted with the owners , learnt all their life stories and were off on our way again.
Disappointed when I realised the road doesn't actually go into the town of Wilcania we continued onwards to White Cliffs.
We drove this stretch at the wrong time of day although we did see a beautiful sunset. Had to contend with kamikaze kangaroos,wandering sheep- they really DO follow the leader- defiant cattle and even one stunned bunny in the headlights.
Arrived at our motel and were informed there was only one place open for dinner in town. Picked up our motel key and were directed to the local sports club that does the baked dinner. When we arrived and walked in the owner used his psychic skills. One look at us and he directed us to the 'visitors book'.I was tempted to pretend to look thru my wallet for a membership card but with the thought of no where else to get food I found myself complying then handing over $35 for two baked dinners. Actually it was a huge meal and cooked well. I'm not sure they were totally impressed when I asked for tomato sauce though haha. One of the cooks sat with us and told us about his opal store.Will check it out tomorrow. He said he will show us his underground home so incase we disappear it's the southern cross opal shop. It pays to be cautious haha!!!
Dropped by the pub after dinner for a few packets of chips to nibble on and the locals waved us off.
It's pitch black dark out here. The stars are just amazing!!! It's totally silent too. Can't wait to look around at the opals tomorrow before we head to Broken Hill. Have attached some photos. The blog is a little hard to organise thru the iPad so they are just at the end but I've tried to put them in chronological order.
Love Kerry-Anne and BRIAN xxx